10.28.2012

CA Propositions: YES on 37

Perhaps the best argument in favor of Prop. 37 is that the food industry has spent $36-million opposing it. The reasons to support the measure extend beyond that intuitive analysis however. Prop 37 is a simple measure that "requires the labeling of food...made from plants or animals with genetic material changed in specific ways." It prohibits the marketing of such foods as "natural," and the notion that producers might do so would seem justification enough. There are exemptions written into the measure, such as for cows that eat genetically engineered food. Pet food would need to be labeled.

The key question here is, why would international food corporations spend tens of millions of dollars opposing a measure that would simply require them to let us know what is in our food? Could it be that they hope to deceive their consumer?

At this point in our ever-expanding scientific history, there are no genetically-engineered animals in the human food chain. It makes sense to clarify the legal requirements for labeling such food before it becomes available, rather than after.